Chapter 11
The Release



“Whoa come on now can’t we talk about this like adults?” I begged as I stared down the barrel of yet another gun. This seemed to be an all too common occurrence these days. I gulped as the gun was moved closer to my face. The person on the other side of it just grinned.

“Goodbye, Rebecca Miller.” The trigger was pulled and it was all over.






“Hey! We said not in the face you punk!” I said as I wiped the water off my face. Kelly just giggled as she twirled her squirt gun around her finger. “Oh you are in trouble now missy.” She screamed and started running around the backyard as I chased her. I caught up to her and wrapped my arms around her waist before lifting her up in the air. “I have you now.” I said with a grin and carried her back into the house as she kicked and screamed. “Will you calm down goofball?” I chuckled and tossed her onto the couch. She landed with a soft thud and bounced a couple times before settling in.

“Oh come on. You know I don’t like being picked up.” She said as she sat up and brushed her hair out of her face. I chuckled as I shut the back door. She glared at me from across the house and I just gave her a great big smile back. She chuckled. “You’re lucky you’re so damn adorable or I’d kick your ass.”

“I’d like to see you try.” I responded with a smile as I started pulling things out to make lunch. “Any requests?” I asked her.

“Surprise me.” She said as she made herself comfortable on the couch. I chuckled and pulled things out to make us sandwiches. As I put them together, my mind wandered back to the past few months with Kelly.

They had honestly been the best few months of my entire life. It felt nice to be able to come home from a stressful day at work or a stressful mission and know I had someone I could call and help me unwind. She was so understanding of the demands of my job and rarely ever complained about the limits it put on the time we spent together. She was more focused on getting as much out of the time we spent together as possible. She insisted on doing all those “couple” things like going out to dinner and seeing movies together. She wanted me to go to her Homecoming dance with her, but I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. She was being stubbornly persistent about it though, and she was so cute dropping little hints about how much fun it would be.

“What’s taking so long? I’m about to start eating your couch.” She whined from the living room. I just shook my head and brought her her sandwich. “Thank you baby.” She said with a smile and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Oh I was just bringing you this so I could keep my couch.” I said with a smile. She smacked my shoulder with her hand.

“You punk!” She said before laughing. “Then again, what can you expect from a USC grad?”

“Can we leave my superior school alone for today please?” I asked as she picked up her sandwich. She chuckled and looked over at me as I sat on the arm of the couch.

“Where’s yours?” She asked as she held up the sandwich.

“I’m not hungry.” I answered as she took a bite. Thankfully, she just nodded her head in response since her mouth was full. I ran my fingers slowly through her soft blonde hair as she ate. “How are things at school?” She swallowed her bite before answering.

“They’re good. Cheerleading started and I’m captain this year so I have the awesome responsibility of making cuts. Umm…I like most of my classes so far. My psych teacher is really weird though.”

“I didn’t know you were taking psych.” I told her as she took another bite. Again she just nodded until she could answer.

“Yeah I decided to take it to see what all of the fuss was about. I mean if you could get a degree in it, how hard can it actually be?” I gasped in disgust and took the sandwich out of her hand as she was about to take a bite. “HEY!” She yelled and looked at me with a sad puppy dog face. “Why’d you take my sandwich, Beckers?”

“Cause you insulted my degree and my intelligence that’s why!” I yelled. I slammed the sandwich down on the plate and took it back into the kitchen. She leaned over the arm of the couch with a confused and upset look on her face.

“I was only kidding.” She said quietly, but I still heard her. I couldn’t keep it up any longer and I cracked a smile.

“So was I.” I said as I finished the rest of her sandwich in one bite.

“Oh you are so dead!” I screamed as she leapt over the arm of the couch and chased me upstairs. She tore down the hall after me as I burst through the doors into my room. She tackled me onto the bed and we rolled around a little bit, giggling the entire time.

Finally we settled with her hovering over me. Her hair had flipped up in front of her face. I reached my hand up and tucked it behind her ear for her. “Mmm…thank you baby.” She said as she pressed her lips to the palm of my hand.

“Anything to see more of that gorgeous face of yours.” She giggled nervously as her face flushed red. “Aww.” I said as I kissed her on her red cheek. “To what do I owe this adorable pleasure?”

“You’re always so sweet to me. And considering how you were to me when we first met, it’s just nice to see this side of you.” She said with a smile.

“Well I have you to thank for that. I honestly never thought I could feel this way after what I thought happened to my parents. And now that I have you and them, my life finally feels like it’s going in a positive direction so thank you.” She leaned down and kissed my forehead.

“You are more than welcome. I love you Beckers.”

“I love you too Kelbell.” She giggled and started to get up. I wrapped my arms around her and held her in place. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I told you earlier that I would come over but I have homework to do.” I stuck my lower lip out and looked at her with sad puppy dog eyes. “Oh come on Rebecca really how old are you?” We both chuckled and I let her go. She got up off the bed and held her hands out for me. I took them and she pulled me up. We locked arms and she leaned her head on my shoulder as we made our way back downstairs. She set her stuff up on the kitchen table and started working as I settled in on the couch to watch some TV.

I only looked at the pictures on the TV, but my mind was on something else. I knew we were getting closer to the time when I would have to choose. Choose between what was right and what was easy. My parents had kept giving me updates on the Blake situation and it was only a matter of time before it would be time to get him. Kelly was still in on the plan, but I didn’t know if I felt right putting her at risk like that. Every time I brought it up to her, she insisted that she go and show me how much she had learned during our training sessions. She definitely was getting better. With each passing session, my unease about her being part of the mission lessened and lessened. Still, there was always going to be that part of me that worried. I turned around to watch her work. She noticed me watching and blew a kiss my direction before turning back to her work. I giggled and continued to watch her, my brain still hard at work about her and the impending mission.

It was 9:00 before Kelly finally shut her school books and tossed her pen down. She rubbed her eyes tiredly as I came over and kissed the top of her head.

“Took you long enough.” I joked and she chuckled tiredly. “You want something to eat before you have to head home?” As I said that, her stomach rumbled loudly. I laughed as she flushed red from embarrassment. “I’ll take that as a yes.” I kissed her cheek before heading into the kitchen to fix her something. She sat down at the counter and drummed her fingers on the granite countertop as she watched me.

“How’d you learn to cook?” She asked.

“Took a class at USC one summer.” I told her as I added some spices to the food I had going on the stove. “Honestly one of the biggest things I learned from it was just to have some fun and be creative with your cooking. Oh and I learned that burning things is bad. In case you weren’t aware.” I said with a smile. She laughed.

“You are such a dork sometimes you know that?” I just smiled wider and she laughed harder. “But I have to admit you are an adorable dork.”

“Took you long enough to catch on.” I smirked at her and she gasped before grabbing a towel near her and throwing it in my direction. “Oh jeez you fricking throw like a girl.”

“Good thing I am a girl then or that would be embarrassing.” She replied with a smile.

“Touché Miss Parker.” I chuckled and her smile got bigger. “This is almost done so why don’t you go wash your hands real quick?” She nodded and got up to wash her hands in the downstairs bathroom. I put her food on a plate and got her a glass of water as she sat down at the table. “I hope you like it.”

“I’m sure I will.” She said with a smile as she dug in. A look of pure pleasure came onto her face after the first bite. “Oh my God Rebecca. This is so good.” I giggled as I leaned over and kissed her cheek.

“I’m glad you like it.” I said with a smile as I watched her take another bite. We sat quietly while she finished eating. When she did, I took her plate over to the sink and rinsed it off before sticking it in the dishwasher. “Well, I guess it’s the worst part of the night.” I whined as she gathered her school books together and put them in her bag.

“I know.” She said with a pouty face as she slung the straps onto her shoulders. I came over to her and wrapped my arms around her. Her arms slid around my neck and we squeezed each other tightly. “I love you.” I whispered as I rubbed her back.

“I love you too.” She whispered back as her fingers ran gently through my hair. We finally split apart and she gently pressed her lips to mine. I returned the pressure, always blown away at how soft her lips were. Her fingers slid between mine as we made our way to the front door. As she pulled it open, we noticed my parents standing out on the porch.

“Oh good you’re both here.” My dad said as he lowered his fist he was just about to use to knock on the door.

“What’re you doing here Dad?” I asked him as I hugged my mother. Part of me knew his answer before he even said it.

“It’s time.” He said as he looked from me to Kelly. We both nodded and I headed upstairs to arm myself. Kelly followed and I handed her a bullet proof vest to put on as a precaution.

“You sure you’re ready for this?” I asked her as I pulled my own vest over my head.

“Yeah. I mean it’s now or never right.” She said trying to hide the uneasiness in her voice. I nodded and handed her a handgun which she tucked into her waistline. I clicked the cartridge into my pistol and tucked it safely in the back of my pants before draping the two assault rifles over my chest and positioned them on my back.

“Let’s go.” I announced and she followed me downstairs. My parents got up as they saw us and we made our way out to the car. I got in the back with my mom and my dad sat in the front seat with Kelly driving. The engine roared to life and I looked back at my house, wondering if it would be the last time I ever got to see it.